with light

Welcome bloomers, to a VERY special edition of The Bloom!
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In honor of all the growth behind the scenes, we've curated a unique newsletter with interviews of the team, and our favorite features of the newly launched learning platform for social impact careers. Here is your summary of the special edition newsletter:
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🌱Behind the scenes building The Bloom
🌱Reciprocity hub for peer-to-peer support
🌱Unconventional social impact career fair
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with love & light,
​Jasmine
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​Partner with us! We're looking for impactful organizations to partner with The Bloom to bring connections, resources, and opportunities to our global community.

fresh soil

Meet the team behind the scenes building The Bloom's fast-growing learning platform for social impact careers: why they chose to work at The Bloom, milestone moments in their new roles, and insights into their favorite features of the learning platform 💜

Why did you choose to send in your application to The Bloom? A part of your application you're comfortable sharing?
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I remember reading through The Bloom's job description and having a feeling that it was the right fit. I was seeking a role where I could coordinate communities with a focus on learning, and the social impact field would be a highly desired bonus. When I learned about The Bloom, it just felt right. Call it intuition, but throughout the entire application process, I felt I was stepping into something great that truly aligned with my values. My intuition was right; it has been a fantastic journey so far! It's wonderful to be in a place where you can use your skills to serve others and feel seen and celebrated. A piece of my application that I believe expresses my approach to this job is this:
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​"We bring to the world what we need. If lucky, we become the guiding force for our younger selves—I saw that in your story, and it deeply resonated with me.

I advocate for transformation through joy and connection. In those magical spaces, now recognized as communities embracing collaboration, joy, learning, love, and laughter, I found belonging. It was only then that I could thrive, realizing my true self and value and gaining pride as a lesbian woman. 🌈

Now, I’m a community crafter, drawing inspiration from the human experience. My contribution to society involves crafting spaces for connections and growth.
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Fostering The Bloom’s community growth brings me joy, just imagining countless positive impact stories is an honor. One of life’s greatest gifts is putting talents in service of something bigger."
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​If you could walk our community in your day-to-day behind the scenes building The Bloom, what would you like for them to see?

I'd love for them to see our meetings, where we start with a connection question and create a safe space to exchange ideas and be honest. The brainstorming sessions are the best, we do have fun together. Behind the scenes, we're always thinking about how to improve and sharing our love for getting to know Bloomers. Organizing information, events, and content, and ensuring everything ties together for a seamless, joyful community experience takes a lot of energy.

A highlight moment, experience, project with the team so far?
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​A very special project we worked on together was designing the events, with their purposes and flows. It was one of the first projects where I remember us having a brainstorming session together. That really stuck with me; our minds worked so well together haha. Coming from a design background, I've been through many sessions like that, and I know it's not something simple and common, so I was really happy. It was also the first meeting where I led the facilitation, I was a bit nervous haha I appreciate how we are able to share the responsibility and leadership within the team.
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​Walk our community that might not be on there yet, through the platform. What do you hope they notice? Could you share your how your leadership helped shape that feature of the platform?​
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I'd love for new community members to discover and contribute to the offerings in our Reciprocity Hub! Many Bloomers have shared incredible offerings there, ranging from CV support to workshops to a book club launching next month. Reciprocity is a core value in our community, and the space for giving and receiving help is vital for a healthy community. I've come to realize that peer learning and space for connection combined are a powerful sauce for a vibrant community.
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Facilitating the transformation of these proposals into reality, whether through the Reciprocity Hub or support for events, brings me immense joy. Something magical happens when our community comes together, and these offerings enable that magic—a space for people to create what they envision for our community. Many of our initiatives are member-led, as our ultimate goal is to create a fulfilling experience for everyone.

And could you walk our community through data/milestones you're proud of? What impact would you like to highlight?

Our event satisfaction rate averages at 91%, which makes me very happy, as events are one of my focuses. But what's most special are the stories we hear about how the community has been a place of support, connection, and learning. In the end, it's the stories behind the numbers that matter.

Why did you choose to send in your application to The Bloom? A part of your application you're comfortable sharing?

Quite simply, it was a space my younger self so desperately needed and envisioned. At the time, I was applying and interviewing for other roles with exhausting processes. The lack of diversity in the rooms I was walking into felt especially outdated and triggering, given that I have now worked in marketing and communications for enviro-social change and in other ways for 12 years. I felt guided to Jasmine’s LinkedIn job advertisement post by a trusted contact working to diversify this space and reading how her process valued applicant time as well as the newsletter for the first time gave me that gut feeling. The beating heart that lies at the center of my career, including roles in scuba diving, tourism, hospitality and the writing and spoken word world is community. Growing up with the conflicting values of the individualist West and the collectivist culture of my roots has only ever reaffirmed my core belief that we as humans are nothing without other people and our communities…as I wrote in my application, “Where I becomes we, we becomes us. Where connection is celebrated.”

I also felt incredibly seen given that my poetry was at the center of my application….

“Straight to the point,
An eleven-year global career journey for enviro-social impact,
Homogenous, often white, often male, in places I’ve joint,
Ironic. A team not reflective of its forward-thinking cause has become fact,
The solution? Diverse spaces and relationships, reciprocal, joyous and true,
For I believe, it’s the only way that social impact can truly bloom.
From indifferent to compassionate, a number to a name,
From doom scrolling to blooming, anything less would be a shame.
Matchmaking members united by a common cause,
Making the world a better place, amplified by connection, collaboration and shared resource,
A mission I embody and applaud.”

If you could walk our community in your day-to-day behind the scenes building The Bloom, what would you like for them to see?

How The Bloom Team runs is truly unique, I’ve never experienced anything like it. From our meetings which have connection questions that hold space for reflection and learning about one another to the amount of creative freedom and leadership that is encouraged and supported is beyond the type of development I believed any job could provide. My favorite is our ‘Joy’ thread on Slack…here you’ll see joyful snippets of our lives but more often, snippets of comments and posts from Bloomers. From stories of vulnerability that move us, your achievements and courage in sharing failures, your appreciation and gratitude towards each other and us etc. I truly feel honored and motivated to keep helping build a space that speaks to and helps your growth. Also, the diversity of what we do…from brainstorms, to strategy plans, community interaction and co-creation, content planning and creation, events…there’s a lot to juggle but when those threads connect, there’s mic-drop, lightbulb moments that make it all worth it.

A highlight moment, experience, project with the team so far?

I have found the ongoing development of our Collaborative Library a highlight. The journey of co-creation is messy but we have recently had a breakthrough in strategy that I believe can amplify the voices of thought leaders in The Bloom and mobilize knowledge in impact niches for Bloomers and wider accessibility. I was excited when Jasmine welcomed the idea and supported making this more than a channel in The Bloom. I'm grateful to have the privilege of co-creation with such inspiring people.

Key seeds of wisdom so far after 4 months building The Bloom, that you think could support other social impact leaders in their career journeys?

There are many seeking work or exploring transition with non-linear careers. There is no right or one way to find work or transition. A lot of people found opportunities through the most unexpected doors, often people, so it would be to continue in faith, reach out and connect, your non-traditional journey is your superpower and to not be afraid of entertaining something that is outside of the box or what you were initially seeking.

Connection, people and community matters more than ever. A lot of people have heard of the company they now work with through The Bloom community, landed work through us or found the energy to continue the search because sometimes a heart-warming coffee chat can be all the motivation you need. Those not seeking work have found a place of openness, connection and diverse community, which jobs in social impact often don’t provide. Recognizing the importance of human connection and making time for it because Bloomers are some of the most generous humans I have ever met.
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Sign up for a coffee chat to meet (& network with 😉) The Bloom team directly in "The Lounge" of our learning platform for social impact careers.

water your soul

The "Reciprocity Hub" is one of our favorite soul-enriching features of our learning platform for social impact careers. Here's a peak inside at some of our favorite "Offers" for peer-to-peer support.

🧬 Science nexus, writing, and research support, offered by Aadita. ​
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🔥 How to communicate your impact story, offered by Marcela.
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​💜 CV and cover letter peer-to-peer review, offered by Sanjukta.
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​Read through the "Offers" from bloomers excited to begin peer-to-peer support systems from CVs to storytelling through the "Asks & Offers" channel of our learning platform for social impact careers.

grow new roots

There is no better way to find your next job than networking with employers DIRECTLY, and getting to meet with hiring managers behind the scenes, before you apply! That's why, through our learning platform for social impact careers, we host global career fairs with organizations across industries in social impact. Next one is May 16 with leaders across tech, diversity & inclusion, and finance!

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​📱CodeOp – tech, diversity & inclusion, gender justice

Katrina is the CEO and Founder of CodeOp, a venture-backed ed-tech company on a mission to diversify tech. CodeOp has supported thousands of women, trans and nonbinary people from over 80 different countries worldwide to get the skills they need to thrive in the tech industry through game changing partnerships with corporations, governments and organizations.

Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, Katrina immigrated to Barcelona in 2016 to start work as a Data Scientist first at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center and later on the central data science team at eDreams. She's been a startup mentor for UNDP and 4YFN's Women Innovators Programme and currently sits on the advisory board for FAO's Informal Private Sector Advisory Group. In 2023 the EU-Startups nominated her as a "TOP 100: Europe’s most influential women in the startup and venture capital space."

💸 2X Global – finance, gender justice, investing
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​Noor is a passionate young professional with demonstrated experience in social impact programme management. Her focus areas include women's empowerment and financial inclusion. Recently, she joined 2X Global to support their global and internal programmes. Prior to that, she played a significant role in the development and execution of Meta’s policy program in Pakistan. Her standout project, the #SheMeansBusiness program, helped over 31,000 women enter the digital economy through skills training and financial education. Noor earned a Master's in Innovation Management from the University of Manchester as a British Chevening Scholar. Alongside her professional pursuits, she enjoys baking and runs a food blog and a home-based cake business in Islamabad, Pakistan.

Stella is an experienced strategist and facilitator with over a decade of experience building and leading international teams. In her role as Director of People & Programmes for 2X Global since January 2023 she has hired, onboarded and built a fully global remote team. "When I tell people 2X Global has 20 team members, living in 12 countries, working across 9 time zones and representing 17 different nationalities – all working fully remotely they look wide-eyed and always ask, 'how do you make that work?!' - and the answer, if you take the time to find the right people, and you work with them to design & deliver a clear and ambitious strategy, anything is possible!

🚀Watson Institute – entrepreneurship, community

Milena Kirillova is at the forefront of the Watson Institute's global search to identify and support the next generation of entrepreneurs and leaders. Her role involves working closely with innovative thinkers and passionate entrepreneurs from around the globe, empowering them to drive their ventures forward through Watson Institute Fellowships and Programs. In addition to her work with Watson, Milena has also collaborated with other prominent entrepreneurship organizations, including Venture for America and American Councils for International Education. Milena's own experience as an alumna of the Watson Institute, where she founded and ran a successful educational venture, further strengthens her ability to guide and mentor promising individuals as they navigate the challenges of entrepreneurship.

RSVP for our next Career Fair on May 16 and upcoming mentorship workshops directly through "Events" channel of our learning platform for social impact careers.

☀️ Learning platform for social impact careers: Read more about our fast-growing learning platform where you can connect, learn, and grow alongside extraordinary social impact leaders around the world.

💸Sponsored membership: If you're unable commit to the membership fee of our platform, you can apply for sponsored membership.